Absar Alam and Matiullah Jan slam Dunya News analyst Haroon ur Rasheed

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 17 October 2018

Absar Alam, the former PEMRA head, condemned Dunya News analyst Haroon ur Rasheed for purportedly threatening a police officer. Matiullah Jan also demanded a public apology from Haroon, prompting calls for accountability within the media industry.

Summary

ISLAMABAD - In a hard-hitting tweet Absar Alam (pictured), former head of PEMRA, called columnist Haroon Rashid a blackmailer and asked Dunya News to take action against him.

Alam, politically aligned with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, was reacting to a tweet of Waqt News journalist Matiullah Jan over an alleged phone call made by Haroon ur Rasheed in which he threatens a police officer over the arrest of an individual.

In his tweet, Alam said: “Has this puppet ever apologised on abuse of media power, fake news, abusive language while dancing to the tunes of his masters? This blackmailer behaves like a ‘firaun’ pressuring & threatening a police officer to free an accused. @DunyaNews must take action against him. Shame!”

For Mati, himself no stranger to controversies, the call was “unbelievable.” He asked Haroon to apologize. “Unbelievable! MR. Haroon Rashid must clarify about this. If true, he must apologise. In my 23 years of journalistic career I have never called a policeman for any accused & talked in this manner. Hope a clarification comes from @DunyaNews too as it’s name has apparently been used.”

Photo: Twitter (@AbsarAlamHaider)